Ground breaking held for new hotel

Wednesday

Nov 21, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 21, 2012 at 9:51 AM

TOM McLAUGHLIN / Northwest Florida Daily News

It may have been the niftiest ground breaking this side of Las Vegas.

Julian MacQueen and his staff at Innisfree Hotels put on quite a show for the visiting dignitaries who traveled out to Okaloosa Island on a chilly Friday morning to witness the ground breaking for a new Holiday Inn Resort.

MacQueen called his project, unique in that it is being constructed on U.S. Air Force land, “a way of refreshing the experience of Okaloosa Island with a brand new project.”

The ceremony marking the start of construction on what MacQueen said would be the island’s first hotel in 20 years featured golden shovels, fireworks, and a fly over by four World War II vintage air craft.

A monster truck called Reptoid delivered hard hats to the 16 selected to break ground for the new hotel.

Then its driver wowed everyone with some dune leaping daring do.

Any controversy associated with the hotel was laid aside on this day by MacQueen and the men who are helping him finance and build the project.

They praised one another and spoke of the tenacity and teamwork it took to bring the U.S. Air Force’s Enhanced Use Lease program hotel, first envisioned in 2008, to the construction phase.

“This was a big teamwork effort,” Col. Anthony Higdon, commander of the 96th Civil Engineer Group told the gathering. “It shows the military, business and community’s ability to work together.”

Also on the stage to speak before the ground breaking was Buford Rolin, tribal chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

Rolin’s band, which operates three gaming facilities on reservation land in Alabama, is partnering with Innisfree to build the $25 million Holiday Inn Resort, Destin West.

The chairman said he’d been working with MacQueen on the Okaloosa Island project for about a year and a half, though no mention was made of the Creek Indian’s connection to it until a flyer was sent out announcing the ground breaking ceremony.

Rolin was in no mood Friday to discuss gambling, particularly in association with the new hotel.

“We’re not here to talk about gambling today. We’re here to talk about our other investments,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

MacQueen, who took questions head on after the event, also had to address the issue of gambling.

“There will never be gambling on this property,” he stated, noting that Air Force regulations would prohibit such activity.

The Air Force will build two sophisticated radar stations on top of the new hotel as part of the return for providing Innisfree with a 50-year lease.

MacQueen said another lease term requires his group to offer 4,000 room nights at a discount rate to members of the military. Those discounts, he said, would cost the hotel $40,000 annually.

He said he sees the funds he won’t collect as giving back to the community in a way that offsets the fact the hotel, by virtue of being constructed on federal land, won’t be required to pay property taxes.